<p>Just a note that in Brown you clean your own bathroom and provide your own toilet paper, so bring supplies or money for supplies accordingly. Things you might want:
Toilet paper
Paper towels (go quickly) and/or hand/dish towels
sponges
hand soap (also goes quickly)
shower spray (get into the habit of spraying after each time you shower, or else mold will take over!!!)
bleach
swiffer, febreze, windex, toilet cleaner, tiny broom and pan</p>
<p>If you’re in a bathroom with upperclassmen, just give them money to go get the TP for you (it’s cheaper if you drive out anywhere to get it rather than the bookstore). This is something you will need to work out within the first week (how obsessive compulsive the people you’re living with are about cleaning the bathroom, how you want to divide the work up and how often to clean, etc).</p>
<p>I second Mariecc1’s question about bringing detergent. Shold we bring out own detergent and fabric softener? For dryers…there are some clothes that cannot be dried in a dryer…where do we dry those? I read that there are drying racks, but where are those located?</p>
<p>And my question about Bonnycastle rooming/storage still stands if anyone could please answer that. Thanks</p>
<p>I bring my own detergent
You could bring your own drying rack and dry things in your room, they’re only ~$10
No one may have lived in Bonnycastle on this board, you will probably need to just wait until you get there in the fall and assess the situation at that point, like I previously suggested. Good luck.</p>
<p>Nobody has more used, rental, guaranteed buyback or eBooks that the UVA Bookstore.
Nobody works harder to save you money. NOBODY.
Unlike the “other bookstores”, we are a non-profit and owned by the University. Our staff work really hard to get alternatives for you so that you can save money.</p>
<p>It is brainwashed into so many students heads that they can get better deals on all of their books outside the UVA Bookstore… which is so wrong.</p>
<p>Really? Then why can I get books at nearly half off on amazon or eBay?</p>
<p>I got my organic chemistry textbook for 80 dollars online … new. UVA Bookstore was selling it at like 130 (or 180, I forget) used and 230+ new or something.</p>
<p>Before the start of every semester I would pull off the textbook list and then open three windows: one for the UVA bookstore, one for SBS and one for half.com and I would proceed to go through my book list and checkoff which site I could get the book I needed the cheapest. </p>
<p>Most of the time, it was not the UVA bookstore. And it purely isn’t from the perspective that UVA may sell new book X for $25.00 and SBS may sell the new book for $23.00. The UVA bookstore may carry certain titles that are only available new, whereas you may be able to find a used copy at SBS or online for much cheaper. Sometimes it goes the other way around, where UVA will have a used copy, but it’s definitely not the rule. I constantly shopped between all three alternatives to make sure I was saving the most money I could.</p>
<p>eBooks are not offered for every class, in all my time there was never an eBook offered for something, and frankly, I don’t think it would have been helpful to me, as I like to take notes in the margins and I get tired if I’m constantly glued to my computer. </p>
<p>And let’s face it, most students do not get a good return on what books they sell back to the bookstore. I sold a near perfect $100 econ book and got something like $25 for it. The bookstore offered me $2.00 for a book I spent $25.00 on new. It’s better to try and resell your books either online, or to the next group of students taking that class using the class email list.</p>
<p>how did you check for books online at the Bookstore when I have never actually had the books online? (with the exception of Semester At Sea)</p>
<p>So how do you get your statistics? “most students”… I want to see your statistics. a bunch of years back, your student run newspaper went out of their way to try and show that the Bookstore was more expensive, but in the end we were the same if not cheaper that the online joints when you factor in all of the factors such as shipping and availability.
I am not going to argue the fact that yes, sometimes you can find cheaper. But most often you wont when you compare all the we offer.</p>
<p>But I am not going argue with you guys. Like I have said, we are a non-profit who is here to serve the students of UVA. If you think we are here to gauge you then you are totally mis-informed.</p>
<p>Alright, after checking, you are right about them not being on the bookstore website. I thought for sure that it did. It has been a year and a half since I’ve had to buy/research books…so shoot me. I DID price shop though, even if that did not include the online UVA bookstore. </p>
<p>And I stand by my other comments about eBooks and book buybacks. And the fact that there are places cheaper than the UVA bookstore. Whether someone bypasses the bookstore for something else entirely is up to the individual, but I think the main point we are trying to get across to new students is that they should shop around, because sometimes the bookstore isn’t the cheapest, and the cost of books can quickly add up.</p>
<p>we welcome that. because we will usually win. It is comments like you posted that the younger students do read and listen to. And you are doing them a disservice by publicly stating something that did not happen. Thanks for setting it straight in post 68</p>
<p>Can’t we all just get along? This is a sticky thread incoming first years will read. Arguing like this just looks bad. There are plenty of threads to debate book costs, it doesn’t need to go here. [site:talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-virginia</a> wdstrongjr - Google Search](<a href=“Google Search”>Google Search) This thread is for information for incoming first years so please no more on books: it’s covered by the above posts and the link I just provided, or provide more links of your own, but no more arguing? Thanks. :)</p>
<p>Thanks all for the posts, a couple more questions:<br>
In new dorm suites (Fitzhugh specifically), should someone bring a TV for the suite area or is one provided, what about the cable fee?<br>
Do people usually keep an ironing board in the suite and agree to share it so as not to crowd the room? What else is good to share?
Are the suite bathrooms and common area cleaned by housekeeping or is that the students job?
Is there a kitchen in the suite or just furniture?
Is there really a desk lamp on the desks in the rooms?
If you want to buy your shelf unit in advance, how wide would you recommend, 18"?
If you hung a shoe rack on the inside of your closet could you still shut your door?
No one said anything about bringing a safe - is the honor code that good or should you bring a small safe for cash, passport, jewelry?</p>
<p>Then what you should do is vet the information for correctness.
Posting wrong information in a FAQ designed for first year students should be accurate and include fact and not opinion.
Giving incorrect information just shows how this is such a dis-service to incoming students.</p>
<p>I lived in new dorms my first year. Someone brought their own TV for the suite area. We split the cable fee (at least among those of us who actually used it). </p>
<p>I never ironed my clothes, but a few of my roomies had irons and they just shared. So, I guess that’s up to you. A vacuum cleaner would also be good (once in a while the house cleaning people will vacuum the common room, but a vacuum or swifter for personal rooms would come in handy)</p>
<p>Suite bathrooms are cleaned by housekeeping every week. So they replenish the toilet paper, clean the showers and sinks, etc. They also take out the trash. As for the common room, they take out the trash there as well (but not recycling!)…However they get really annoyed if you junk up the place and leave candy wrappers, etc on the floor. So don’t leave it tooo messy.</p>
<p>There aren’t any kitchens in those particular dorms–just furniture. </p>
<p>There was no desk lamp included with the room when I lived there (I brought my own).</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s necessary to bring a safe. At first I always locked my room every time I left. Same with my roommate…but by the end of the year I never locked my room door and I never had any problems. Nothing was ever taken. It just depends when/if you are comfortable enough and trust your suitemates not to take anything! I can imagine this situation might be different for people that live in old dorms/hall style though. Hope this helps!</p>
<p>Actually, now that I remember I think the tables come with a desk light in the top part of the desk…fluorescent ones you can switch on/off… but I still brought my own desk lamp. Hope that clears things up!</p>
<ol>
<li><p>There is no TV, but find someone nice in your suite that is willing to put their TV in the common room, it’s a good way to get everyone together. </p></li>
<li><p>Someone will have an iron and ironing board, I’m sure you can use it. Odds are it will be a tabletop one, so it won’t take up much room. Don’t worry, you wont iron anyways. </p></li>
<li><p>Just furniture. Get a microwave and fridge. </p></li>
<li><p>There is a flourescent desk lamp built into the desk, it works fine, but you might want another desk lamp for beside your bed, and perhaps a floor lamp depending on how your room is laid out, and where the ceiling lamp is. </p></li>
<li><p>18" is a good sized shelving unit. </p></li>
<li><p>Yes, a show rack will fit and allow the door to close in Fitzhugh, maybe not brown, but definitely in New Dorms. There is a mirror on one of the closet doors, so you may want to consider a hanging shoe rack on one side, and a mirror on the other if you get the unlucky closet door. </p></li>
<li><p>Don’t worry about a safe, no one is gonna steal your stuff. I got a safety deposit box at the Bank of America on the corner, but it was just a pain in the ass to go down there, so I never used it. I just threw my passport in the top drawer of my desk - also consider if you really need to bring your passport, it’s not like Charlottesville is a huge hub for international travel.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>This not meant to be a commercial, but knowing how many incoming students hit up the Bed, Bath & Beyond that’s near Grounds, I thought I’d let you and your parents know that they accept expired coupons.</p>
<p>So, if you get as many of those blue, 20% off any item cards in the mail as we do, you can save them up and use them here, regardless of when they expired. </p>
<p>Also be aware that the “big box stores” (BB&B, Target, WalMart, KMart) can be chaotic at certain times during the move in.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for all the information! This is so helpful!
I have a few additional questions. I am living in Hereford.
Do I really need a vacuum? Someone mentioned the cleaning people have one in their closet. I am in a single so I don’t want to take up space unnecessarily if I have access to a vacuum.
I stayed in the same hall at orientation that I am living in next year, and I saw that they had a small TV in the common room. There was also a DVD player that said “Hereford” on it. Will those still be there in the fall?</p>
<p>I stick by my original statement. I went through the bookstore and found that the majority of books that I needed to buy were more expensive than Amazon, including shipping.</p>
<p>But, I buy my books from the UVa Bookstore. And here’s why.</p>
<p>I don’t mind spending an extra couple hundred dollars if it means that more UVa bookstore employees can keep their jobs. I believe you wrote a post about this sometime ago. However, while I don’t mind spending an extra $200, everyone can’t afford to spend that much money (gals will attest.) If I bought all my books online as opposed to the UVa bookstore, I would have saved $175-200 second semester. Regardless, I bought them at the bookstore and the SBS in hopes that I can help our local economy.</p>
<p>So, I stick by my original comment. You can find books for much less online and you really don’t get a discount (from my experience) buying at the bookstore. **However, buying at the bookstore helps keep jobs local and keep more people in the UVa community employed. ** I hope we can agree on at least that. :)</p>
<p>All incoming first years should check out this student blog to learn more about what it is like to be a UVa student and what you can expect to experience once you arrive on Grounds: hoostories.blogspot.com</p>
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